The monstrous disaster that created gaping holes in their living room was all Xavier needed to know that his gut feeling had been correct. His hopes had influenced him, making him doubt if everything was a trick of his mind. Unfortunately, everything was real.

The last traces of hope he had left were now dispersed, crushed underneath the blazing boars' head-sized hooves.

This is even worse than I expected Xavier thought as his attention moved to his parents. His father had thrown himself above his mother to shield her when the boars had bulldozed through their home.

His mother's screams had died down, but Xavier could see her shivering violently under his father's weight.

"Honey, are you fine?" Mark asked Silvia, slowly pushing himself up from the ground into a sitting position. He rubbed Silvia's shoulder to calm her, but Silvia's trembling eyes were glued to the gaping holes in their house. She couldn't believe that three car-sized boars had just barged through their house as if it was made of cardboard.

For a while, the trio simply stared at the wreckage of their once beautiful home. Tendrils of fire had caught on the wooden planks of their now half-destructed wall wherever the boars had brushed past, the fire eating away everything in their range. Silvia lost the strength in her legs and would have collapsed but Mark held her tightly.

Despite arguing with Mark earlier she was actually the one who had been hit the worst by the cataclysmic event. She subconsciously pulled Mark closer, leaning her head on his chest. She almost did not want to imagine the dangers that awaited them in the near future. But her half demolished house revealed the painful reality.

The threats were already there, and they had survived a disaster. Somehow.

"What… just happened?" Silvia asked, not diverting her gaze from the holes for a single moment. It was almost like Silvia expected more blazing boars to charge through the living room. Xavier realized in horror that it was actually not impossible.

The trembling ground and the humongous body of the blazing boars was still imprinted in his mind. The near brush with death had frozen his body that didn't want to move. He felt like the appearance of the monstrosities paralyzed him. Yet, his mind forced him to start moving.

If another boar was about to charge into their home, Xavier wanted to be able to protect himself and his family – even if he doubted that he could harm one of those large blazing boars in any way.

If boars are already coated in blazing flames, leaving behind trails of fire…does that mean the boars stupidly ran into a campfire? Though I doubt you can find one big enough to put those three boars on fire anywhere nearby. Or do they possess magic? Does magic even exist? Is that a real thing? Wait. What if it is?

His worries began to bombard his mind with insane thoughts, each scarier than the previous one. Xavier didn't really want to think about this, but the events of the last few minutes had been enough to tell that anything could happen. Was there even anything that wasn't possible at this point?

Xavier wasn’t sure about that. His eyes flicked over to his father, who was patting his wife’s back with a concerned gaze. He saw the metal box from earlier lying on the ground near them and approached it, each step confident than the one before.

Xavier opened the box and retrieved the katana made from an unknown red metal.

“I never expected to say this out loud, but I guess it was a really good thing that you started collecting weapons over the last few years.”

Xavier smirked at his father, who broke into a bright smile hearing his son’s words. The heavy atmosphere in the room lightened up ever so slightly. Meanwhile, Silvia scoffed, “Don’t you dare praise him for that. He spent our savings like a madman.”

Chortling, Xavier turned to his mother, who returned his gaze. At least, she had stopped looking at the gaping holes in the wall. That was a good start.

Will we really need money in the future? Should I even be thinking about needing money in the future, wait…what am I supposed to hope for?

Xavier scratched the back of his head, unsure what to do now. He was worried about the well-being of his family, about his friends, and maybe even worried about the future. Everything was uncertain.

But was he worried about himself as well? Was he worried something could happen to him? It was only obvious, but Xavier was afraid. Nonetheless, there was something else as well. A weird feeling.

No matter how dangerous the future seemed, Xavier couldn’t hide that he was a little curious as well. The blazing boars and the notifications from earlier scared him a little, quite a lot, if he was being honest, but he could hardly suppress the tinge of excitement that blossomed in his heart.

“Since dad used our savings to purchase them, I will…confiscate them until everything has been paid back. That sounds fair, don’t you think so, mom?” Xavier asked, pointing at the ruby sword and the emerald daggers as he picked them up one by one.

The emerald daggers each had a sheath that Xavier fastened to his belt on the opposite side of the Classless Deck.Silvia and Mark saw what their son was doing, but they didn’t say anything at first. Their eyes were drawn to the leather box. It was the same leather box they had obtained as well.

“So everyone got one of these?” Silvia asked herself.

Before she could receive an answer Silvia recalled something. “My mother!” She exclaimed, pulling her smartphone out of her pockets before dialing her mother’s number.

Xavier was about to find a sheath for the ruby katana when he heard his mother hastily call his grandmother. He had momentarily forgotten about her and his eyes shot wide open.

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I hope she won’t get a heart attack right now. Wait. Will she be able to tolerate the heat in the chest? I hope she can link to the Classless Deck before it’s too late!!

As the memory of the uncomfortable searing heat spreading through his chest flashed through his mind once again, Xavier heard something even more unpleasant from his mother’s phone. An automated voice responded,

–”The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try to call again later.”

“Shit.” Xavier cursed, only for his father to nod, “Indeed. That’s a big shit.”

Silvia glared at the two full-grown children but didn’t say anything. The worry in her heart was too heavy to say anything.

Since Xavier’s grandmother lived on the other end of the street it wouldn’t take them long to reach her. Her house was located around 300 meters away from theirs. There was only one issue with going out and running to his grandmother; nobody knew how dangerous it was outside right now.

Even the house was not secure anymore given that a bunch of humongous blazing boars could charge inside as if they were taking a stroll through the wilderness.

Xavier wondered what to do next. He couldn’t deny that he was a little scared of going outside, but he was not willing to hide behind their sofa in the half-destructed house while his grandmother might be in danger. Even if his grandmother was fine they couldn’t stay in their home too long, either way. Their house was not secure with gaping holes in the living room. If not boars, thieves could definitely enter their house as they pleased. Sooner or later they had to move and find a secure shelter.

Xavier picked up the sheath that belonged to the damascus katana. He slid the ruby katana inside and was grateful that it fit perfectly. At least, not everything was bad. As long as the katana fit into the sheath everything would be fine, or so Xavier hoped.

“By the way, what are you trying to do with my treasures? I never allowed you to take them away. ‘Confiscate’ my ass!” Mark shouted, approaching Xavier to take back his little treasures, “They’re very valuable. Don’t fool around with them…and don’t break them!”

Xavier’s frown deepened. He stared at his father with an expression that seemed to ask ‘Are you fucking serious right now?’

We’re in an apocalypse. Do you want to send your son out without a weapon to defend himself?! Xavier wondered while glaring at his father, not really sure if he wanted to hear the answer. Nonetheless, he couldn’t stop himself from giving his father a piece of his mind.

“Not one but three boars, each three-meter-tall, and enveloped in flames, charged through our living room a few minutes ago. Are you seriously more concerned about these pieces of metal than your son?!?” Xavier blurted out, silencing his father in one go.

That’s what I thought.

“You are not thinking about going outside, are you?” Silvia asked, staring worriedly at her son. She knew that Xavier had always been braver than the two of them, but he was also more reckless and impatient. Silvia had also witnessed the indominating power of the blazing boars. No matter how brave Xavier was, he couldn’t handle these monstrosities on his own. Being brave did not increase his strength all of a sudden, after all.

“We will have to leave soon either way. The house is not safe anymore…not like this,” Xavier pointed at the destroyed walls before adding, “Furthermore, I am not sure how grandma is doing. She might be fine, but the heat I felt when these letters disappeared was far from ordinary. Something was odd about it, and I’m not sure if grandma picked up the Classless Deck to solve that issue.”

Silvia looked at the Classless Deck and then back at her son, “Now that you mentioned it…I think the heat vanished shortly after the notification about the Classless Deck being linked appeared.”

Silvia murmured, trying to make sense of everything. She was worried about her mother on one hand, but she didn’t want to send her son outside either. However, going out herself was something neither her husband nor her son would allow. They knew that she was good at hitting them, but that she would not stand a chance in real fights.

Xavier and Mark had seen her screaming at the top of her lungs at the sight of worms plenty of times. That was not really something one could consider battle instincts.

“Alright…I don’t think I can convince you to stay here. Just…Just be careful when you go outside. Come right back if something happens. We will wait for you here and hide in the bedroom or something. Don’t let anything harm you!”

“Yes yes. Mom. I will be fine, don’t you worry. It’s not the end of the world.’’ At least, not yet!

There was no doubt in his mind that the blazing boars were just a glimpse of the real terror that would await them outside.

Giving his parents a reassured smile, Xavier slowly took a peek outside through the holes. His gaze followed the imprints left on the ground by the hooves of the boars all the way to the street outside that was littered with chunks of debris, and upturned vehicles.

His ears twitched when he heard a twig snap. Instinctively, his eyes looked in that direction, while his hand went to the katana. He was about to pull it out when he realized it was not a boar or some other wild animal.

They were humans.

Are they our neighbors?

He wondered, trying to get a good look at them. They seemed to be struggling to walk and their clothes were covered in dirt. After peering at them intently, he recognized the old lady as Mrs. Livera, the woman who would always scowl at his cat, claiming that his pet had dug up her flowerbeds. However that hardly made sense, since their cat died a few years ago.

He disliked the old lady but not so much to be okay with her roaming around aimlessly on the street.

Probably too shocked with what happened.

He saw a few more familiar faces and was about to shout at them to warn about the dangers but then he stopped when a low sound reached his ears.

It was much like a growl, a deep throaty one. It took him a few seconds to realize that the source of noise was none other than the bunch of humans walking around like scavengers.

And he nearly stumbled back when Mrs. Livera turned around. Her eyes were glassy and lifeless. It was as if something had sucked the soul from inside of her, leaving an empty shell of a body behind. Sadly, it was not just her. The entire group’s movements were erratic and disjointed as if some unseen force was making their limbs twitch and jerk. It was almost mechanical.

It was as if they had turned into something else entirely.

He stopped in his tracks and slowly traced his steps back towards his parents. He saw the horrified look on the face of his mother and raised a hand towards his mouth, placing a finger on his lips and signaling her to stay quiet. Apparently they had seen it all too

Though her voice barely a whisper, it could not hide the panic evident in her tone. She gasped loudly and pointed at the two moving…something.

“Isn’t that Mr and Mrs. Livera? What happened to them?!?”